Marcelo A. Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome
With this being the home opener and start of the Calgary Roughnecks 2017 NLL season, the Vancouver Stealth traveled to Calgary. The Stealth showed up with a stingy defense and a solid team effort to beat the Calgary Roughnecks 12-11 in a game that went to the last second of regulation time.
Sporting new uniforms the Vancouver Stealth came out blasting. With rookie keeper Del Bianco making his debut for the Roughnecks, the first game jitters had gotten the better of him as he let in some soft goals. Del Bianco (35) recovered quickly after a save, scooping the ball and looking down the floor to a breaking transition player for the score, only to have it called back on a Stealth challenge due to a Roughneck’s foot in the crease before the ball crossed the goal line early in the first quarter. Stealth lead 5-2.
Starting the second quarter the Stealth open the scoring on their first and second possession on replacement keeper Zack Higgins (30) leading 7-2 in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Coach Malawsky decided to replace Del Bianco with keeper Zack Higgins. Calgary got one by on a delayed penalty, with rookie goalie Higgins making the sprint to the Roughnecks bench to get the sixth man on the attack.
The Roughnecks gained momentum with rookie Holden Catoni (19) scoring his first goal of the 2017 NLL season. The Stealth still held the lead 7-4 with 8:55 remaining in the half. Shattler (77) with a soft touch put one over the shoulder of Richards again gaining momentum for the Roughnecks, 5-7 Stealth still in the lead. A long shot from Keegan Bal (9) of the Stealth scored low on the stick side of replacement keeper Higgins. In response to this goal Curtis Dickson (17) dove through the crease scoring on Richards (00) to keep the Riggers to within two.
Manning received a two minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and the Stealth took it to the power play. Higgins stood tall as the replacement on the short man, but Logan Schuss (18) squeezed it by the stick side of Higgins giving the Stealth a 9-6 lead with four minutes left in the half. With a holding penalty on Vancouver, and Calgary on the power play it was short lived as they took a penalty checking from behind on the Stealth short man break. Also assessed, a Stealth penalty for holding keeping it a Roughneck power play 5-4. Roughies Curtis Dickson (17) was assessed with a goalkeeper interference penalty just before the half, but the Roughnecks killed the penalty successfully with 13 seconds remaining till half time.
Heading into the third, the Stealth had a quick stick goal by Corey Small (15) to get it by Higgins through the five hole, 10-6 Roughnecks down five minutes into the third. The Stealth were moving the ball very well and their solid defensive stance continued to dominate the Riggers in the third quarter and most of the game. The Roughnecks would be called for a cross check penalty with 5:34 remaining in the third. The Stealth weren’t allowing Calgary to develop a shooting opportunity on the man down, but Dane Dobbie (44) would score a shorthanded goal with 3:57 remaining in the third. The Stealth would hold the lead 10-7. Then the Riggers would toss the challenge flag on a corkscrew shot that squeezed by Higgins (30) with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the Roughnecks, the challenge was denied and the goal stood as the Stealth would put another on the board.
In the fourth, Dan McRae (3) of the Roughnecks had a breakaway, made no mistakes and put it by Richards at 9:44 in the fourth, 8-12 Stealth with the clock running out. Jeff Shattler (77) with the steal on the power play cut across the crease to bring the Roughies one goal closer 12-9 with 7:33 left in the game. The Stealth still held their stingy defense not allowing the Roughnecks to do much in the way of offense. Again, another penalty would occur as Mike Carnegie (16) was given two minutes for a crosscheck putting the Riggers a man short with only 4:23 remaining in the home opener. 
Eleven thousand plus fans would sit in anticipation as the shots at this point were in favor of the Stealth 56-40. With 3:30 remaining, double minor penalties would be called against both teams. But the Stealth had been skillful at using the shot clock the entire game. In the last two minutes Calgary pulled the keeper giving them the sixth man pressure, allowing Tyler Digby (23) to go in untouched to put it by Richards for the score 10-12 Stealth. The final push with Wesley Berg (14) scoring on his own rebound with 48 seconds in the game 12-11 to put the Riggers to within one. On final chance by the Roughnecks who tried to even the score only to have the ball bounce of a Calgary stick with 0.9 seconds on the clock. Final: Vancouver 12—Calgary 11.
Although the outcome was not what the Calgary fans had hoped for, the excitement of this game was exponential. The Riggers were down 7-2 early in the game and would hold the Stealth to one goal in the fourth; and go on a four goal run only to have their hopes crushed in the last ten seconds of the game.
Next week, Calgary heads to Vancouver in the hopes of avenging their loss in the season opener. Vancouver heads to Colorado for a back-to-back contest going up against the Colorado Mammoth on January 7, 2017.
Marcelo A. Sagüez, Beat Writer Calgary Roughnecks
Lacrosse is Awesome